Chris Dodd: “I will make, in my waning hours here, as strong a plea as I can to not succumb to the temptation to change the…”

“I will make, in my waning hours here, as strong a plea as I can to not succumb to the temptation to change the institution because of the current frustrations people feel. There is a reason this institution exists and has the rules it does. All of us one day are in the minority or majority. The fact that some may abuse the rules, as has happened here without any question, ought not to be a justification for fundamentally changing them. There are ways to deal with the problem without losing the essence of the Senate. He is no longer with us, but my seatmate, Robert C. Byrd, would speak for hours on end about the importance of not letting the vagaries of the moment dictate the long-term interests of the institution.”